Steam-engine



I (No Model.)

S. E. JARVIS.

STEAM ENGINE.

No. 373,072. Patented Nov. 15, 1887.

N, PtJERS, Pholo-Lilhognphar. Waxhinglan. o. c.

FFIQEO ATENT SAMUEL E. JARVIS, O F LANSING, MICHIGAN.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,072, dated November 15, 1887.

Application filed MarchlO, 1587. Serial No. 230,337. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1', SAMUEL E. JARVIS, of Lansing, in the county of Ingham and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful 1m 5 provements in Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in directacting engines of that kind called sliding-cover engines, wherein the piston-rod, which is directly connected to the crank-pin, is free to oscillate'and passes through a cover which slips back and forth on the head of the cylinder and forms a tight joint therewith.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts, all as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings which accompany this speci fication, Figure l is an axial section through the cylinder, showing the relative position of the parts at the end of the strokeand Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the relative position of the parts at the middle of the stroke.

A is the cylinder, B is the piston, C the piston-rod,-and D the crank-pin,of the engine, all of usual construction and operation, except as hereinafterdescribed.

The head E of the cylinder has a central elongated slit, a, in the plane of motion of the crank-pin, and its inner face forms a seat, a,

against which the sliding cover F fits steamtight. I preferably make this head in the form of a conical frustum, as shown, and the sliding cover circular and of a size corresponding with its seat.

The stuffing-box G, through which the piston-rod passes, turns in abearing on the sliding cover, such bearing being formed by means of asegment of a ball, I), on the inner end of the stuffing-box and a corresponding socket, c, on the sliding cover, as shown.

A coil-spring, H, is preferably interposed between the cylinder-head and some suitable flange on the stuffing-box, whereby a tension is exerted which keeps the sliding cover and stuffing box in their relative position with ably formed on the inner or central portion and the socketbearing e in the outer annular portion; The central part, .I,of the piston-head is secured to the end of the piston-rod in the usual manner, and the outer annular portion, I, has suitable packing.

In practice,the cylinder beingprovided with any of the known devices for the distribution of the steam or motive agent into thecylinder to produce the well-knowu reciprocating motion of the piston, it is evident that the pistonrod is perfectly free to assume any angular position required by the varying position of the crank. The oscillations of the piston-rod slip thecover F back and forth on its seat,and it must therefore be suitably arranged to form a tight joint thereon in any of its positions. As the pressure of the motive agent itselfkeeps the cover and stuffing-box in their proper relativeposition with each other and with the head 'F, the spring H is not an indispensable element in the operation of the device. I, however, considerit a valuable adjunct to maintain the relative position of the partsunder all contingencies-as, for instance, when the piston is moved without the presence of the motive agent in the cylinder.

The annular part I ofthe piston-head should be given a suitable length to counteract all tendency to bind in the cylinder owing to the tilting of the inner part of such piston-head, and the ball-andsocke't bearing should be of such extent to insure a tight joint and prevent injurious wear of the faces. By making one-half of the socket-bearing in the form of a screwring, f, as shown, the hearing may be easily constructed and maintained in good working order. 7- j The I-shaped cross-section of the piston, in connection with the conically-depressed heads ofthe cylinder,affords great economy of space and material, and in this respect further increases the peculiar advantage of this style of engine for use in propelling small craft, or wherever simplicity, lightness, and compact ness combined is the main desiderat-um.

3y constructing the piston so that more or less of the central portion thereof oscillates with the piston rod an important advantage is gained, as it will easily be understood that when the engine is working in a horizontal position a certain lifting force will be exerted on the piston owing to the angular position of the central port-ion thereof, and this lifting force counteracts the weight of the piston and thereby exerts a very desirable action.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. In a sliding-cover engine,a cylinder-head having an elongated slit and a contracted flat inner face, and provided with a flat sliding cover seated against the contracted inner face of said cylinder, substantially as described.

2. In a sliding-cover engine,acylinder-head in the form ofa conical frustum, provided with an elongated slit,and with a sliding coverseated against the inner contracted face of said eyliuder-head, substantially as described.

3. In asliding-cover engine,theeombination of a cylinder-head having an elongated slot, a ilat sliding cover seated against the flat inner face of said cylinder head and having a ballshaped aperturc,astnffing-box provided with a ball-bearing engaging into said aperture, and a spring interposed between the cylinder-head and the stuffingbox,substantially as described. 1

4. Inasliding-cover engine,the combination 2 of a fixed cylinder-head in the form of a conical frustum and provided with an elongated slit, a sliding cover seated against the inner face of said cylinder-head and provided with an aperture forming the socket of a ball-andsocket bearing, a stuffing-box: engaging into said aperture by means of a ball-bearing, and a conical coil-spring interposed between the cylinder-head and the stuffing'box, substantially as described.

5. In a sliding-cover engine, a piston-head consisting of a central disk fixedly secured to the piston-rod, and an annular outer cylinder with a ball-andsocket bearing formed between said disk and cylinder, and a spring around said rod, substantially as described.

6. In a sliding-cover engine, a piston-head consisting ofa central disk fixedly secured to the piston-rod and provided with a ball-bearing around its circumference, and an annular outer cylinder provided upon its inner face with a socket-bearing for the central disk, substantially as described.

7. In asliding-cover engine,the combination of the cylinder, the conically-depressed cylinder-heads, the sliding cover seated against the inner faccof one or" the cylinder-heads, and the I-shaped piston-head, substantially as specilied.

SAMUEL E. JARVIS.

Witnesses:

IRA Soon, 0. P. TEN EYoK. 

